tough season for the Leafs. I really feel bad for those bias broad casters on Leafs Night in Canada. All night long was a marathon of excuses, with everything from a Leafs point of view. It made me sick listening to it.

The thing I’ve enjoyed the last few games is that the Habs have won playing different styles of games. I think it speak to the depth of the team when we can shut it down and play a ‘hold on with a one goal lead and depend on goaltending’ like against Boston, or a more open game shoot out like against Detroit. Also had games in the middle where he have timely goals, good goaltending when the defence has brain farts and character guys stepping up.

When we played the teams we were supposed to beat, Sabres and Panthers, we did just that. My only concern is the PP, it has to be good for this team to survive, especially if we meet the Bruins. Teams have to know that taking a penalty against us is going to cost them, making them think twice.

Side note, looks like we’re playing Tampa first round, (I know it’s not clinched but just for arguments sake), can you see the forward lines staying together? I can’t. Beating tampa is beating Stamkos. I think you need an all most full shut down line just for him.
Go Habs Go!

Posters talking about a Bruins series…lets not forget last year..Tampa will be a very difficult series and a couple of bad bounces can easily cause a series lose..Last year the team dominated Ottawa in the first 2 games yet were tied because of a terrible collapse in the third period in game one..

I agree. Winning over Tampa is not a guarantee, by any means. I feel more optimistic than I would be against Philly or Detroit, but playoffs hockey is a different beast and we were not quite up to it last year.

At one point this season I felt that Patches and DD should be packaged up for something else if their play didn’t improve. Well, not only has DD’s play improved significantly but Patches has developed an appreciation for playing on the defensive side of the puck in addition to being a valued scorer. Furthermore, I have to say I’m much more impressed with Vanek’s defensive efforts in the last few games. When your coaching staff can convince their snipers to regularly back check with the enthusiasm those two have shown, it will be hard for anyone who is a passenger to look them in the eye and not put in the effort. To that end, hats of to our much maligned coaches who managed to get these guys to buy in to the importance of solid a defensive effort.
This is exactly the kind of stuff that winning teams are made of!! It leads me to believe this team will surprise many in the post-season!

I joined the discussion after the game so missed all the commentary that preceded it. Reference was made more than once on the broadcast about Pleks having returned to Montreal for personal reasons.
I was led to believe earlier it was because of the birth of a second child.
Without specifying what the reasons were, they left it open to speculation. So what is the story?

For all the Next Generation fans, (c’mon, you’re on a computer on a Saturday night, who ya kiddin’) having Vanek in the lineup is like a gift from Q, “here is a glimpse of your future Jean Luc Picard (Marc Bergevin) if you had a second power forward …

or, back to the future, and a same day shout out to the Dunboyne/Lizard King, this is what we had 25 years ago with Stephane Richer in his prime – and no, Gary Leeman doesn’t count.

If MB doesn’t make the Kessel 8 for 8 offer, he is derelict in is duty… actually I threw that out to earn my chest thumping bonafides with the “sky is falling, I post therefore I am truth crowd”.

I just hope that the 64 million dollar deal is on the table, and if MV goes somewhere else, so be it, hopefully it is respectively noted that the money is there (for others who might be Mr. Congeniality).

I have now! Awesome, thanks Dave, brilliant stuff … I know I am not the only person to think that the Bruins bear a striking resemblance to those bullies from Communist Martyrs High … I mean, think about it. put that goatee on Julien and he is Lenin incarnate, Lucic as Milosovich (sic) and Kreci as Rosa Luxemborg … I could go on

I brought this up a couple of days ago, and I thought it would be ridiculed but actually got some interesting responses…

You’d have to wonder if Phaneuf’s time in TO is over, and if so, his value can’t be too high. I think Phaneuf is out of his element in TO. He is the #1 guy on a team that doesn’t know how to play D, plays the PP, the PK, and logs the most minutes. He’s still young and he is still a very good player, he’d make a great #2-3 guy on the Habs. We make fun of him a lot because he is a Leaf and is in over his head on that team, he tries to do too much and makes mistakes, but he also makes good plays and he tries to do right by his team.

I think a change of scenery and less responsibility would let him regain confidence and be a better player. I’m not saying we should try to get him out of TO, but would explore the option if I was MB. I have the feeling that once he leaves TO, he will rediscover his A game – even as a Leaf, he still makes that team better despite his shortcomings, and I would wager that if he was on the block, he’d be a valued commodity.

Hypothetically, his addition would help balance the pairings and add physicality, puck movement, and more scoring.

There are certainly better options, but with the cap expected to continue rising, and 7M no longer being unusual or that high for top pairing Ds, his cap hit could be swallowed up. Just saying, he is still a good player that is being misused in TO, and is thus much maligned by the media and fans.

Well I don’t think he is worth the contract but that is just a function of the value of those kinds of players – Nonis would not have offered that if he did not have to. There were other teams willing to pony up that amount or higher.

I’m not saying I would blindly take him, but if there was a good offer, say, if MB could pull off a Vanek type deal for him, then I’d be for it. I don’t think the Habs should actively try to pry him away from TO, but if he did don the CH, and the deal was right, I’d be happy with that.

Maybe I’m biased a bit because I really liked Phaneuf when he was a Flame and I still see him is a very good player. I think a lot of the negative stuff about his game is a product of him playing in TO and basically being asked to put the team on his shoulders. Obviously, that team has too many issues for a single player to fix, and it’s been so for years, but IMO he is still very valuable in many respects.
______________________
Hockey sine stercore tauri.

Actually not true,, we still need to get to 98 points to absolutely guarantee a spot,, but that number will come down with each Columbus or Detroit loss..and or Montreal Wins,, Toronto can no longer catch us though.

Badger Hockey lost yesterday ending its season to Habs prospect Mark MacMillan and North Dakota yesterday,, football team had a good recruitment class from what i here,, everyone should get to experience a football game at Camp Randall Stadium, Lambeau Field,, Montreal forum- Bell Center,, Wrigley Field,,etc.. Sports Shrines

The one thing that has me optimistic and has certainly added much credibility to the Habs being for real this season is that for the two damaging losing streaks they had, they responded both times with winning streaks where the wins in those streaks made up for if not surpassed the losses. The only area they really got scalded in was goals against and that was in the first real bad losing streak. I am also surprised that they’ve been able to sustain a consistent ability to win this deep into the season, and on a roll heading into the play-offs… so far. Still a few games left until the second season. If they can get all the injured reserves healthy they have the depth to go deep. The only thing standing in their way being the Penguins and Bruins.

I agree this team has surprised many, but it still has its shortcomings.
What we have going for us is character, depth (not necessarily in scoring but in personnel), and great goaltending. We can certainly have a great run this spring, but I would temper the expectations by citing that without good goaltending, we are not too good.

That being said, the team has good chemistry and it works hard, it’s awesome that they don’t give up and have the cojones to come back and win games. Our biggest weakness is on D but PK, Markov, and Emelin have been good despite bad stretches, Gorges should come back refreshed and we know his value to this team. Also, Tinner has been solid and so have the rotating guys – Boo, Crankshaft, and Dream Weaver.

The biggest thing is, of course, our scoring. Vanek has been a great pickup and it has transformed this team, but outside the DD line we need to have some more reliable secondary scoring. Hopefully Pleks goes on a roll and the Gallys too.

It will certainly be an exciting playoffs and we are in much better shape heading into them this year than we were last year.

Price with a very solid game tonight. Habs did not miss Pleks too much….riiiiiiiiiight. All in all, it’s nice the Habs have a dominant line while in the hunt for home ice in the playoffs.
Meantime, in Hogtown, millions of laff fans consider crack as an alternative to watching the rest of the season. In the laffs dressing room, Princess Phanoof cries in the arms of coach Carlyle, who cries, too.

My thoughts – Carey looked good except for being on his knees on the last 5 goals. Man I hope they resign Vanek, his passing is as good as his goal scoring. Both of Max’s goals were tap ins. The mayor should bow before DD. I would like the Habs to resign either Murray or Weaver, or both to 1 year contracts and bring in Tiny and Bealieu slowly. Danny B will light it up in the playoffs. Larry played okay in TP’s absence.

Whatever happens with Vanek after the season, and however the DD line starts next year, hopefully their struggles this season will prove a lesson to fans. Everyone wanted to get rid of DD and even Patch at one point, but they overcame adversity and are our best forward line and most consistent one too. Should DD or Patch struggle again for a stretch next year, or at any point, let’s remember that such a thing would not be a permanent state of affairs and that they are very valuable players in terms of our offensive production – something we still have to address down the line.

Very quietly. Not a good night for Frankie, despite what the scoresheet says.

A bad tripping penalty and defensive struggles in his own end. He and PK are not a good fit. Maybe, if managed closely, Frankie could add value in a sheltered role at 10 minutes a night, on a rotational basis. He is simply logging more miles than his odometer can handle. Compounding the issue is the quality of opposition he faces.

We have benefitted from a soft schedule the past six games (Sens, Sabres x 2, Wings, Leafs, Panthers), which has masked many of our defensive shortcomings. Thankfully, goaltending and offence (PP aside), has sustained us.

I may not agree, but as you’ve said, tough to argue with the results. My underlying concern is the way the defence has been playing versus competition that we have been beating, but you play the games as they are scheduled to play.

That can’t happen, can it?
Doesn’t it go:
Bruins play 8th place; Habs play TB.
Winners play for Atlantic title
Atlantic winner plays Metropolitan winner for conference title?

The only way Montreal could play Boston for conference title is if they fell to 7th place and beat first Pittsburgh and then the winner of Rangers/Phil (at least as it stands now). They would then play for the conference title representing the Metropolitan division

Stamkos with his 23rd in 29 games…..only Patches and Vanek on entire Habs team have more, no one on FLA may crack 20 this year…>too bad Stamkos got hurt because this is a prime year for him…could have been a special one.

I gotta say I am pleasantly surprised, nay stunned, at how good that Vanek pick-up has been for the Habs. Very astute pro scouting. Finally. And I am generally against giving up assets for rentals. In this case I am all in. Good on Bergevin and Dudley.

I have played several times when I have felt I was clearly out of my depth. First when I was very young, playing with older boys and, more recently, as an old guy playing with highly skilled young men. The feeling is quite evident and undeniable. I can feel it, the others can feel it too, everyone sees it…

I get the same feeling now watching Parros play. You have had a respectable career with the limited skills you have. Time to hang them up…